Hawthorne: La Tia shaky short-priced favorite in Illini Princess
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
There’s no doubt La Tia has put together the best 2013 campaign among eight Illinois-bred fillies and mares entered in the $100,000 Illini Princess Handicap on Saturday at Hawthorne, and there’s little doubt she also had a better 2012 season than any of them. Doubt, though, should at least creep into handicappers’ minds when they consider taking a short price on La Tia in the Illini Princess.
La Tia, a candidate for 2013 Illinois-bred horse of the year, is a talented Salvador Hernandez homebred 4-year-old filly, a six-time winner of more than $421,000 in her 14-start career. Turned over this season to trainer Armando de la Cerda, La Tia won an open third-level allowance race at Arlington in May, and in June there she dominated her only Illinois-bred start of the year, winning the Lincoln Heritage by 3 1/2 lengths.
Since then, La Tia has faced only graded-stakes foes, finishing third in the Grade 3 Modesty, fifth in the Grade 1 Beverly D., and fourth in the Grade 2 Canadian on Sept. 15, her most recent start. Those performances all were good enough to make her formidable in the Illini Princess, but at this late point in the season, they also might have taken something out of La Tia.
There are other potentially compromising factors, too. La Tia does her best work on the front end, but she will find company there in Katie the Lady, another confirmed front-runner. The 124-pound highweight, La Tia made her career debut at Hawthorne but did so in a dirt sprint; she has never raced over the local grass course which suits some horses much differently than Arlington’s turf course.
If, indeed, La Tia proves vulnerable, Kepi might be the one to challenge her. Kepi, unraced since late August and with just three starts this season, should be a fresher horse than La Tia at this point, and her Hawthorne turf-course record is good, 2-2-1 from 5 starts. Kepi finished second to talented Peyote Patty in this race last fall and had almost seven lengths on the show horse. Perhaps this is her year.